MONDAY, Oct. 10 | 10am-5pm
An all-day cooking workshop on Thanksgiving Monday!
Back in the spring, The Depanneur reached out to the Syrian newcomer community and has been delighting in the delicious results ever since. Our Newcomer Kitchen project has become something of a local sensation, serving up 50 meals of traditional Syrian home cooking every week.
In that time, many people have expressed tremendous interest in learning some of these fabulous recipes, so for this Thanksgiving Monday, The Dep and Newcomer Kitchen are teaming up to offer a full-day, hands-on workshop delving into a some of our most popular Syrian dishes. The class will be led by Rahaf Al Akbani, one of Newcomer Kitchen’s coordinators, along with 2 of our talented Syrian cooks, and facilitated by The Dep’s Emily Zimmerman.
The class will cover a number of delicious and traditional Syrian recipes, and will include a meze lunch and food to take home.
— Morning —
Mutabal kousa متبل كوسا
Syrian home cooking is notable for its economy and minimal waste. The pulp scooped out of the middle of the zucchinis when they are cored to make Kousa Mahshi is not thrown out, but rather cooked up and combined with tahini and lemon to transform it into a subtle and delicious meze dip akin to baba ganoush.
Kibbeh bel Senia كبة بالصينية
Kibbeh is one of the most quintessential Syrian dishes, made from a thick dough of bulgur (steamed, dried and cracked whole wheat). Many types of kibbeh are individually stuffed, shaped and fried, which can be very labour intensive, but this delicious vegetarian kibbeh is stuffed with a combination of walnuts, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and pomegranate seeds, garnished with pine nuts, baked in a tray like brownies!
Salateh Naameh سلطة ناعمة
This essential Mediterranean salad can be found throughout the middle east, with tomatoes, cucumber, and white onion are finely diced and seasoned with olive oil, mint and lemon juice.
Khabaz Saj (خبز الصاج)
A simple fresh flatbread, handmade on the traditional domed oven of the same name.
LUNCH
— Afternoon —
Kousa Mahshi كوسا محشي
Stuffed zucchinis were cherished by the former Ottoman Empire, and they made them popular from the Balkans to the Levant. Most popular are the beautiful, pale green young marrow or summer squash, but regular zucchinis work just fine. They are hollowed out with a special implement called a manakra (an apple corer works well in a pinch), and stuffed with a mix of ground halal beef and rice, or a spiced rice mixture for a vegetarian option.
Namoura نمُّورة
An classic Syrian dessert, a rich buttery semolina and yogurt cake, garnished with almonds and drizzled with a orange-blossom infused syrup.
—–
$125 +HST
—–
Newcomer Kitchen is a new project that invites groups of Syrian refugee women to use our kitchen to cook traditional Syrian dishes in a fun, social setting. Meals are prepared and packaged, and then sold online for pickup or delivery to pay for all the ingredients and provide an honorarium for the cooks. The project now supports over 55 women and has paid out over $16,000 directly into the community in only a few months.
Proceeds from the sale of meals goes directly to the newcomer cooks. However this does not cover the costs of the enormous amount of behind-the-scenes coordination required to keep this project going. You can support the Newcomer Kitchen project directly and our vision of expanding this model to support more women in more neighbourhoods!
Learn more about the Newcomer Kitchen project.
—–
Every Monday, The Depanneur invites TO’s best culinary talents to lead fun, hands-on workshops.
Canada : bienvenue aux réfugiés | Arte (France)
Alors que l’Europe, confrontée à une crise migratoire sans précédent, surveille ses frontières, le Canada, lui, organise le plus grand pont aérien de son histoire.
De Mathieu Bana, François Reinhardt et Yann Le Gléau – ARTE GEIE / What’s Up Productions – France 2016
En moins de trois mois, 25000 réfugiés syriens sont accueillis. Emmenées par le gouvernement de Justin Trudeau, les autorités dépêchent 600 fonctionnaires dans les camps de réfugiés au Liban, en Turquie et en Jordanie.
Hérité des années 70, le système des parrainages privés fait appel à la générosité populaire. Une mesure qui autorise les Canadiens à parrainer eux-mêmes les réfugiés. Pendant un an, sans aide sociale, les parrains s’engagent à trouver un logement, inscrire les enfants à l’école et subvenir aux besoins des familles.
Dans tout le pays, les intitatives se multiplient, le multiculturalisme, inscrit dans la constitution canadienne, prend tout son sens. Une exception dans cette partie du monde : le Canada pratique l’immigration choisie, vérifie l’identité de ceux qu’il accueille et détermine le moment de leur arrivée.
Read the whole article / Watch the full video
Newcomer Kitchen is featured at 19:00m
Newcomer Kitchen expands with a new Syrian pop-up brunch, prepared by refugees | NOW Magazine
After the success of The Depanneur’s weekly dinners, Mirvish Village developer Westbank steps up to sponsor a Syrian brunch event at Butler’s Pantry
BY KELLI KIELEY NOVEMBER 30, 2016
“Instead of just selling your last sandwich, why not go down in a Thelma and Louise blaze of glory?”
That was the pitch to Atique Azad, the proprietor of the Butler’s Pantry, a 25-year old Mirvish Village institution set to close at the end of 2016 to make way for the development replacing Honest Ed’s.
He thought, “what have I got to lose?” And just like that, Canada’s first Syrian Brunch Pop-Up was born. And it’s a hot ticket. December 4 is already sold out.
It’s the first official spin-off from Toronto’s Newcomer Kitchen, a project co-founded by Cara Benjamin-Pace and Len Senater at College Street’s The Depanneur that specializes in unique food experiences. Since April, more than 55 Syrian newcomer women have cooked a wide range of traditional dishes, and in the process, put over $25,000 directly into Toronto’s newcomer community.
Because each weekly dinner consistently sold out, the next challenge was to tackle Toronto’s most iconic meal: Sunday Brunch. After months of testing, tinkering and tasting, what may be the first Syrian Brunch Pop-Up in the world is ready to be experienced by a handful of lucky Torontonians.
Read the whole article
Syrian refugees build community with cooking | THIS Magazine
Photo by J. Walton
Behind the scenes at the Newcomer Kitchen and Karam Kitchen in Ontario
by Amanda Scriver |
It has been nearly one year since the Liberal government enacted a program to admit 25,000 Syrian refugees arrived in Canada. In their first year, many of the families faced several challenges to overcome: getting to know a brand new country, finding suitable accommodations, and trying to find a job in our country’s tough economic climate, all while facing systemic racism upon arrival. The resettlement process is not easy, and many are still trying to find their way here in Canada. While the Canadian government and private sponsors have helped—offering financial assistance, medical coverage, and housing—the biggest challenge many Syrians have faced is finding community.
Newcomer Kitchen Brunch at Butler’s Pantry
We invite you to join Newcomer Kitchen at Butler’s Pantry for Toronto’s first authentic Syrian brunch!
brought to you with the generous support of Westbank
This is the first official public Newcomer Kitchen spin-off project, in a trial-run, limited seating engagement. Come enjoy a lavish spread of traditional Syrian home cooking prepared by the talented cooks of Newcomer Kitchen.
Every Sunday until December 18 — SOLD OUT
NEW SATURDAY SEATINGS AVAILABLE!
Prix fixe menu — sold in pairs of 2 — $30 per person
11am, 12, 1 & 2 pm — Tickets must be purchased in advance
(note: each seating is for nearly 2 hours; no one wants to rush Sunday Brunch!)
LOCATION
Butler’s Pantry, 591 Markham Street, Toronto, ON M6G 2L7 View Map
Shay
Bottomless tea!
MEZE (all included, for sharing for 2 people)
Khabaz Saj
Warm flatbread prepared on the domed sag oven
With za’atar and olive oil for dipping
Labneh
Homemade yogurt cheese balls cured in olive oil and seasoned nigella and sesame seed
Kebbeh Bel Sayniyeh
Baked bulgur dough stuffed with walnuts, potatoes, onions, tomato and pomegranate
Baba Ganouj
Smoky eggplant dip with tahini, pomegranate molasses, walnuts and pomegranate seeds
Salatet Na’ameh
Fresh salad of finely chopped tomato, cucumber & onion with lemon, olive oil and mint.
Mukhallat & Atun
Pickled turnips and wild cucumbers; sun-dried black olives spiced with herbs, lemon and Aleppo pepper
Khdarawat
Selection of fresh vegetables to accompany the meal
MAINS (choice of one)
Jazmaz
The Syrian version of the classic Middle Eastern shakshouka; sunny eggs cooked in a rich, chunky tomato sauce with garlic and olive oil.
Fattet Maqdoos
Crispy pita bread, topped with baked eggplant, yogurt- tahini sauce, caramelized onions, pine nuts & parsley. Vegetarian -or- with awarma (confit halal beef)
Beid bel Toum
Syrian hash! Eggs scrambled with potato and whole confit garlic cloves, garnished with pine nuts and herbs.
Vegetarian -or- with awarma (confit halal beef)
Salatet Sabaneh
Wilted spinach tossed with a warm sautée of chickpeas, mushrooms and onions, garnished with lemon & olive oil
Vegan -or- topped with an olive-oil fried egg.
SWEETS, FRUIT & NUTS
Helawiyaat
Figs stuffed with walnuts & dates stuffed with almonds, with grape molasses and tahini for dipping.
Namoura
Semolina and yogurt cake, topped with an almond and infused with orange blossom syrup
Barazek
Buttery pistachio and sesame cookie
Beverages available a la carte | Gratuity not included
>> PURCHASE HERE <<
Butler’s Pantry + Newcomer Kitchen + Westbank
Newcomer Kitchen invites Syrian newcomer women to share their remarkable cooking skills through collaborations with local restaurants. newcomerkitchen.ca
Butler’s Pantry has become a Toronto institution, serving international comfort foods since 1985. butlerspantry.ca
Westbank is Canada’s leading residential and mixed-use real estate development company, committed to including affordable and social housing, non-profit community partnerships, and accessible public space in all of its projects. westbankcorp.com
Newcomer Kitchen Brunch at Butler’s Pantry — SUN Nov. 20
We invite you to join Newcomer Kitchen at Butler’s Pantry for Toronto’s first authentic Syrian brunch!
This is the first official public NK spin-off project, in a trial-run, limited seating engagement. Come enjoy a lavish spread of traditional Syrian home cooking prepared by the talented cooks of Newcomer Kitchen.
Prix fixe menu — sold in pairs of 2 — $30 per person
3 seatings — 11am, 12 & 1 pm — Tickets must be purchased in advance
>> PURCHASE HERE <<
—–
Shay
Bottomless tea!
MEZE (all included, for sharing for 2 people)
Khabaz Saj
Warm flatbread prepared on the domed sag oven
With za’atar and olive oil for dipping
Labneh
Homemade yogurt cheese balls cured in olive oil and seasoned nigella and sesame seed
Kebbeh Bel Sayniyeh
Baked bulgur dough stuffed with walnuts, potatoes, onions, tomato and pomegranate
Baba Ganouj
Smoky eggplant dip with tahini, pomegranate molasses, walnuts and pomegranate seeds
Salatet Na’ameh
Fresh salad of finely chopped tomato, cucumber & onion with lemon, olive oil and mint.
Mukhallat & Atun
Pickled turnips and wild cucumbers; sun-dried black olives spiced with herbs, lemon and Aleppo pepper
Khdarawat
Selection of fresh vegetables to accompany the meal
MAINS (choice of one)
Jazmaz
The Syrian version of the classic Middle Eastern shakshouka; sunny eggs cooked in a rich, chunky tomato sauce with garlic and olive oil.
Fattet Maqdoos
Crispy pita bread, topped with baked eggplant, yogurt- tahini sauce, caramelized onions, pine nuts & parsley. Vegetarian -or- with awarma (confit halal beef)
Beid bel Toum
Syrian hash! Eggs scrambled with potato and whole confit garlic cloves, garnished with pine nuts and herbs.
Vegetarian -or- with awarma (confit halal beef)
Salatet Sabaneh
Wilted spinach tossed with a warm sautée of chickpeas, mushrooms and onions, garnished with lemon & olive oil
Vegan -or- topped with an olive-oil fried egg.
SWEETS, FRUIT & NUTS
Helawiyaat
Figs stuffed with walnuts & dates stuffed with almonds, with grape molasses and tahini for dipping.
Namoura
Semolina and yogurt cake, topped with an almond and infused with orange blossom syrup
Barazek
Buttery pistachio and sesame cookie
—–
Beverages available a la carte | Gratuity not included
on Facebook
on Eventbrite
Newcomer Kitchen invites Syrian newcomer women to share their remarkable cooking skills through collaborations with local restaurants. newcomerkitchen.ca
Butler’s Pantry has become a Toronto institution, serving international comfort foods since 1985. butlerspantry.ca
Toronto’s Newcomer Kitchen helps Syrian refugees adjust, share culture — Free Speech Radio News
by Tanya Castle
Asma Al Hariri chops zucchini in a downtown Toronto kitchen. She is one of a dozen Syrian women preparing tonight’s Newcomer Kitchen meal. The dish: Sheikh El Mahshi Bil Laban, a traditional Levantine recipe consisting of zucchini stuffed with beef, cooked in a yogurt sauce thickened with eggs and seasoned with garlic and mint, accompanied by Egyptian rice.
Restaurant and culinary incubator The Depanneur hosts the Newcomer Kitchen. The initiative started out as a space for Syrian women to prepare home-cooked meals for their families while they were stuck in hotels upon arrival in Toronto and has since grown into a weekly take-out restaurant.
Read the rest of the article
WORKSHOP: Syrian Home Cooking with Newcomer Kitchen
MONDAY, Oct. 10 | 10am-5pm
An all-day cooking workshop on Thanksgiving Monday!
Back in the spring, The Depanneur reached out to the Syrian newcomer community and has been delighting in the delicious results ever since. Our Newcomer Kitchen project has become something of a local sensation, serving up 50 meals of traditional Syrian home cooking every week.
In that time, many people have expressed tremendous interest in learning some of these fabulous recipes, so for this Thanksgiving Monday, The Dep and Newcomer Kitchen are teaming up to offer a full-day, hands-on workshop delving into a some of our most popular Syrian dishes. The class will be led by Rahaf Al Akbani, one of Newcomer Kitchen’s coordinators, along with 2 of our talented Syrian cooks, and facilitated by The Dep’s Emily Zimmerman.
The class will cover a number of delicious and traditional Syrian recipes, and will include a meze lunch and food to take home.
— Morning —
Mutabal kousa متبل كوسا
Syrian home cooking is notable for its economy and minimal waste. The pulp scooped out of the middle of the zucchinis when they are cored to make Kousa Mahshi is not thrown out, but rather cooked up and combined with tahini and lemon to transform it into a subtle and delicious meze dip akin to baba ganoush.
Kibbeh bel Senia كبة بالصينية
Kibbeh is one of the most quintessential Syrian dishes, made from a thick dough of bulgur (steamed, dried and cracked whole wheat). Many types of kibbeh are individually stuffed, shaped and fried, which can be very labour intensive, but this delicious vegetarian kibbeh is stuffed with a combination of walnuts, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and pomegranate seeds, garnished with pine nuts, baked in a tray like brownies!
Salateh Naameh سلطة ناعمة
This essential Mediterranean salad can be found throughout the middle east, with tomatoes, cucumber, and white onion are finely diced and seasoned with olive oil, mint and lemon juice.
Khabaz Saj (خبز الصاج)
A simple fresh flatbread, handmade on the traditional domed oven of the same name.
LUNCH
— Afternoon —
Kousa Mahshi كوسا محشي
Stuffed zucchinis were cherished by the former Ottoman Empire, and they made them popular from the Balkans to the Levant. Most popular are the beautiful, pale green young marrow or summer squash, but regular zucchinis work just fine. They are hollowed out with a special implement called a manakra (an apple corer works well in a pinch), and stuffed with a mix of ground halal beef and rice, or a spiced rice mixture for a vegetarian option.
Namoura نمُّورة
An classic Syrian dessert, a rich buttery semolina and yogurt cake, garnished with almonds and drizzled with a orange-blossom infused syrup.
—–
$125 +HST
>> PURCHASE HERE <<
—–
Newcomer Kitchen is a new project that invites groups of Syrian refugee women to use our kitchen to cook traditional Syrian dishes in a fun, social setting. Meals are prepared and packaged, and then sold online for pickup or delivery to pay for all the ingredients and provide an honorarium for the cooks. The project now supports over 55 women and has paid out over $16,000 directly into the community in only a few months.
Proceeds from the sale of meals goes directly to the newcomer cooks. However this does not cover the costs of the enormous amount of behind-the-scenes coordination required to keep this project going. You can support the Newcomer Kitchen project directly and our vision of expanding this model to support more women in more neighbourhoods!
Learn more about the Newcomer Kitchen project.
—–
Every Monday, The Depanneur invites TO’s best culinary talents to lead fun, hands-on workshops.
Newcomer Kitchen + Jessica Allen on The Social | CTV
Jessica Allen visits Newcomer Kitchen for CTV’s The Social.
Watch the full clip
Newcomer Kitchen on CBC Cross Country Checkup with Duncan McCue
Many Syrian refugees fled to Canada in the hope of a better life. The challenges are daunting: finding a home, a job, learning a new language …and a new culture. Are we giving newcomers enough support to build a new life in Canada?
They arrived in Canada fleeing war-ravaged Syria, a conflict that has displaced millions of men, women and children. It was the image of one dead child on a beach that spurred Canadians to action and now we have taken in 31,000 Syrian refugees. Soon the year will be up for the first wave of newcomers and their monthly government cheques will stop. Immigration and settlement workers call it “the crisis of the 13th month.”
As the excitement of escaping to a new country fades, how is the transition going? What are the challenges and the joys? Checkup visited one of Canada’s most diverse cities, Mississauga, Ont., to find out and hear some of those stories first hand.
Our question today: Are we giving newcomers enough support to build a new life in Canada?
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE
Cooking Up Opportunities for Refugee Women | City Lab
Cooking Up Opportunities for Refugee Women
Through cuisine, Toronto’s Newcomer Kitchen fosters economic and social relationships for Syrian immigrants.
LISA FERGUSON @LisaFergieTO Sep 1, 2016
Practiced hands press layers of finely shredded phyllo pastry into baking sheets. Others follow with spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. Once baked, the knafeh Nabulsia will be drenched in orange blossom syrup and sprinkled with pistachio. “It’s always good to know how to cook something traditional,” says Majda Khalil, one of the bakers and a Syrian refugee. “It reminds you of home.”
The dessert prepped, six women crowd around a map, showing each other where home was before war ravaged Syria.
Len Senater is used to inviting strangers into his kitchen. It’s the business model of The Depanneur, Senater’s eatery and community hub housed in an old convenience store just west of Toronto’s downtown. For five years he’s been inviting strangers to come, make their favorite food, and sell it to the community.
READ MORE »
Newcomer Kitchen at The Depanneur — Edible Toronto
Newcomer Kitchen at The Depanneur
Building Community for Syrian Refugees
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JASON FINESTONE
I walked into The Depanneur on an uncharacteristically balmy day in early June. Maybe it was because spring weather had been sparse this year, but the sunshine and the heat of the afternoon permeated in a visceral manner. It signaled a season of renewal. People were smiling at one another while passing by on the street. Toronto had emerged from its winter shell, physically and emotionally.
The sunlight careened through the broad northwest-facing windows of the community kitchen-cum-restaurant-cum-social hub. The warmth inside was not just a product of the heat. The atmosphere at The Depanneur that Thursday afternoon was incubative.
At the periphery of the gathered group were young children dancing on tables, holding their fathers’ hands for support, while others were doing arts and crafts or napping in their strollers. A documentary film crew circled the perimeter, discussing shot angles in hushed tones. Several apron-clad women with nametags casually but methodically delegated tasks, balancing between clear directives and spur-of-the-moment decisions.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE
Des réfugiées syriennes mettent à profit leurs talents culinaires — Sonar TFO